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Well, it's here. After months of benefits concerts, unusual duets and myriad acoustic performances, the election has arrived. Once the election has passed, we'll have no more bizarre stories to cover.
You know, like these:
- Linda Cummings, widow of Ramones guitarist and noted conservative Johnny Ramone, has been campaigning, as a 'Ramone,' for the McCain/Palin campaign. Mickey Leigh, brother of Joey Ramone and the head of all things Ramone, is not happy, thinks Joey would not be happy, and issued a press release stating as much.
- Joining Linda Cummings on the McCain side is Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry, a longtime Republican who usually is private about his views. The overwhelming support among his peers for Obama, however, was all Perry needed to open up. A spokesperson for the McCain campaign welcomed the news, noting that McCain 'absolutely appreciates his support.' But does he support Done With Mirrors?
- Bruce Springsteen got in one final acoustic show for Barack Obama, appearing in rainy Cleveland to perform a short set of songs that have become the mainstays of these campaign Boss shows: Thunder Road, Youngstown, The Promised Land, The Rising, This Land Is Your Land. The surprise, however, was the debut of a brand new Bruce song, Workin' On A Dream, a song which has reportedly been recorded for the new Bruce alsbum rumored to drop in January.
- Chris Rock, who has been highly visible throughout this campaign, appeared at an Obama campaign in Tampa and got right to work on McCain.
- Sarah Palin thinks Tina Fey should 'hold on to the Sarah outfit' for a few more years.
- Obama supporters Wilco performed Wilco The Song, a BRAND NEW Wilco song, on The Colbert Report on Thursday.
And after all of the campaigning, the ads, the robocalls, and the impersonations... if you are STILL undecided, perhaps this recent statement from Scott Weiland might be food for thought. In a well-written, yet wordy almost-treatise, the former Velvet Revolver, again-current Stone Temple Pilots vox man lays out his support, in a measured, orderly fashion, for Barack Obama. Speaketh, Weiland:
Please act, please be involved, even if what I have written has inspired you to move in the other direction (I hope that I’m not that poor a persuader). However, when you look deep inside, don’t you want to feel proud about saying “I am an American” again?
We do! We do! Is Weiland implying he is giving up a solo career for the good of America? Oh, we are just kidding, you know.
Happy Election Day, Americans.
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Halloween. The etymology of the word breaks down thusly: Hallow is short for hallowed, which means holy. Ween is short for weenie, which describes the size of the candies that are given during the gloaming's traditional costumed amble.
But man (and woman) cannot live by candy apple alone. Which is why the Blender Blog has compiled this list of videos for your Friday Halloween enjoyment. The first is a brand new video and song by Bruce Springsteen. This 'Halloween Surprise' went live at midnight last night and has since (IE, in the past ten hours) been called the best Boss clip in twenty years by Boss fanatics. The song, Jersey Devil, takes its lyrical inspiration from a legend concerning an eighteenth century New Jersey woman whose thirteenth son grew hooves, horns and bat wings. The musical aesthetic, however, is all blues. The clip features Bruce emerging from a pool of black water and gallivanting around a haunted house, and is pretty pro; certainly no last minute afterthought. Nice job, Bruce. Watch below on YouTube or go to Bruce's site for higher quality. And keep scrolling for more Halloween video-ness.
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| Those Ones Rocking For That One |
| Posted 10/13/2008 1:55:00 PM by Conrad Doucette |
| Filed under: Beastie boys, Beirut, Billy joel, Bruce Springsteen, Crosby, Grizzly bear, Jack johnson, Nico Muhly, Norah jones, Santogold, Sheryl crow, Stills and Nash, The Breeders, The National |
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 My friends, it's time for another Pop Culture Political Update (PCPU)! With campaigns entering the final month, the musical happenings are heating up. As always, That One is the beneficiary of pretty much every arts-related political benefit out there. Here's the latest:
- Three of New York's avant-indie, New Music-esque artists will gather at, where else, the Horticultural Society of New York to perform 'brief sets' at an event being called Bingo For Obama. Tickets are $100 and organizers hope to raise twenty thousand smackers. Besides, presumably, bingo, Grizzly Bear, Beirut's Zach Condon and Nico Muhly will all do musical things. It all goes down this Friday, October 17th.
- Yesterday saw Vampire Weekend and the non-Stills two-thirds of Crosby, Stills and Nash play Music For Democracy's event at St. Raphael's church in Hell's Kitchen, NYC.
- The Beastie Boys are leading a mini-tour in support of Barack Obama that will hit the battleground areas of Richmond, VA, St. Paul, MN and Milwaukee, WI. Joining them on various sops will be Sheryl Crow, Norah Jones, Jack Johnson and Santogold (Richmond), Ben Harper and Tenacious D (St. Paul and Milwaukee) and David Crosby and Graham Nash (Milwaukee).
- This Thursday is the Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel shindig at the Hammerstein in New York.
- Thursday is also the day for a CIncinnati rally, featuring locals The National and The Breeders.
- More Ohio: Friday will see Devo play its first hometown show in years, at the Akron Civic Theatre.
And yes, there are countless other small bills around the country. And if you're wondering why Crosby and Nash haven't been joined by Stephen Stills at these shows, it's likely due to Stills' continuing battle with prostate cancer. Twenty two days until Election Day. |
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Photo: Kimberly P. Mitchell/Detroit Free Press
Greetings, Americans! Time for another Political Pop Culture Update (PCPU). With Election Day only twenty-nine days away, the rally, benefit and concert calendar is heating up. This past weekend was busy one in several battleground states. Here goes...
Jay-Z played a capacity show at Detroit's Cobo Hall in support of John McCain. Just kidding, it was in support of Barack Obama. All 12,500 tickets were distributed by the Obama campaign, the final 500 of which were given out at rallies on Saturday. The Detroit Free Press interviewed young voters who claimed that the Jay-Z show guaranteed their votes would go to Obama. Success.
Michigan wasn't the only toss-up state to get some Jay-Z love - the rapper/mogul was also in Miami, performing a show Sunday in Bayfront Park with Wyclef Jean. The timing was important, as it was one day before the deadlive for registering to vote. This was not news to concertgoers interviewed by the Miami Herald, who were ready to get down, and also vote.
Bruce Springsteen played two short shows - one in downtown Philadelphia and one in Columbus, Ohio. The sets were acoustic affairs, and were comprised of observant, defiant songs from the Boss catalog: "No Surrender", T"he Ghost of Tom Joad", "The Promised Land..." as well as a cover of Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land", a song Springsteen has been covering since the 80s. And in classic Boss, and Guthrie, form, Springsteen made effective use of metaphor while onstage, introducing his song "The Rising" by describing our American 'house,' a house that needs to be rebuilt.
The shows continue this week: My Morning Jacket's Jim James will be playing an acoustic set at Schuba's in Chicago on Wednesday. Tix are $100 and go to, of course, the Obama campaign.
Video of Springsteen's speech, and his performance of The Rising, from Philly, is below. Twenty-nine days to Election Day...
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 When smooth-talking ex-SportsCenter host Dan Patrick wants to discuss rock music on his syndicated radio show, cleverly titled “The Dan Patrick Show,” he usually turns to Blender music editor Rob Tannenbaum. Yesterday, Patrick—who, like many other 52-year old Caucasian ex-college athletes, is a huge fan of Bruce Springsteen--invited Rob on the show to discuss the announcement that Springtseen would perform at halftime of the Super Bowl in February. But this is not a blog post about Bruce Springsteen.
You can hear their conversation by going here.
Dan and Rob discussed what songs Springsteen might play at halftime, agreeing that “Glory Days” and “Born To Run” made obvious sense. They also talked about the choice of Springsteen to play halftime. Rob mentioned that Clarence Clemons, Springsteen’s saxophonist, was a former semi-pro football player. And Rob said that Springsteen’s stature as an American icon made him perfect for the Super Bowl, “which is as American as the death penalty and children who don’t have health insurance.” But hold on, because this is not a blog post about Bruce Springsteen.
Dan expressed a concern that some of his listeners might find Rob’s comments objectionable, and would call in to express disagreement. His listeners, Dan continued, are an attentive bunch, adding “They’re not stoned, like the people who read Blender.”
And so, Blender readers, you have been accused by Dan Patrick. Though his assumption may not be without basis. So we ask you this: Is Dan Patrick right? Are you stoned?
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 Time again for another Pop Culture Political Update (PCPU). With the election only 34 days away, the political rock concert/benefit/extravaganzas are heating up. At least on the Obama end; McCain hasn't been making a splash in the big name concert world. But rock n' roll has always been a rebellious, left-leaning movement, so it's no surprise that the Obama campaign is commanding donation dollars from the biggest, and/or hippest, performers. Let's check out some upcoming (New York) Obama shows, shall we?
The biggie is the first ever joint show between all-around awesome dude Bruce Springsteen and noted bad driver/piano man Billy Joel, happening at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom on October 16. The Hammerstein is an approximately 5000 capacity venue, a relatively tiny place to see a couple of superstars. So a ticket to the show must be pretty pricey, right? Uh, yeah. We're talking $500 bucks for regular Harvey Lunchpails, $2500 for "premiere seating," and (gulp) $10,000 for "lounge seating." That's a lot of do re mi. But word is that Obama himself will be there that evening. Maybe he'll be in the "lounge." For ten grand, he'd better be. Or at least Billy Joel's hors d'oeuvres had better be. Politics is nothing new for late period Springsteen, who ended his long-running public neutrality during the first Bush term, writing the scathing Iraq lament Devils and Dust and leading the 2004 Vote for Change Tour. Bush was re-elected, but it wasn't for lack of trying on the parts of Bruce, Jackson Browne, REM and Bright Eyes.
A little farther down the indie scale is the Barack Rock show happening at the Music Hall Of Williamsburg in Brooklyn on October 7. The show's lineup is a who's who of 'major' indie acts - Andrew Bird, the Fiery Furnaces, Guster, Alina Simone and others. Andrew Bird - whistling for Obama.
Of course, shows of this type are happening all over the country; from the smallest teen or college pop/punk band, to heavyweights like Barbra Streisand, who played a benefit at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in LA (classy!). In Cincinnati on October 16, The National will be teaming up with fellow locals The Breeders for a show in a crucial battleground area. But as any political analyst will tell you, it's all about grass roots, which is what makes the smallest shows so special. It's as DIY as a band putting their tunes up on MySpace and getting in the virtual van. |
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| The Crawl: The Boss to play Super Bowl |
| Posted 9/29/2008 1:07:00 PM by Nisha Gopalan |
| Filed under: 50 cent, Andre 3000, Bruce Springsteen, Jay-Z, Katy perry, Meg white, Nas, Prince, Ray LaMontagne, Sex pistols, T.i., The crawl, Toby Young, White stripes, Young Jeezy |
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 Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band will imbue the Super Bowl with liberal subtext (see "Born in the U.S.A.," "Sinaloa Cowboys") when they perform at the half-time show in Tampa. [Pitchfork]
Singer Katy Perry, immortalized in doll form, encourages minds to sink deeper into the gutter.
[Prefix]
Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3 will drop Dec. 3 and boast another mix of “Swagger Like This”—his track with T.I.—this one, featuring André 3000, Young Jeezy, and Nas.
[Hypetrak]
Meanwhile, the Vitamin Water’d 50 Cent is still attempting to bump up sales of his upcoming album by persevering with his Jay-Z “feud.” [Prefix]
Prince apparently goes door to door to spread the holy word. [Bossip]
Toby Young, the writer behind How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, explains how he and one of the movie’s producer locked horns over the soundtrack. At the center of the dispute: those clamorous, former whipper-snappers the Sex Pistols. [The Guardian]
Soulful singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne penned a new track about the White Stripes’ Meg White. And it sorta rules. [Stereogum]
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 Rock n' Roll - it's rebellious, dislikes rules and, more than anything, disdains The Man. Museums - rarely rebellious, have many rules, and are funded, in large part, by The Man. Which is why the whole concept of rock n' roll museums seems so... parentally approved. But hey - in a world where Heart's Barracuda is being used to promote Sarah Palin and, much more awesomely, where one can hear The National's Fake Empire at the Democratic National Convention, the line between rocking rebellion and staid responsibility is becoming increasingly blurred.
In fact, more and more music museums are popping up and, like awards shows, there seems to be one for just about any topic/theme/band you can think of. Let's put on a pair of those earphone thingies and walk around.
New Jersey Hall of Fame - While not strictly a music-only museum, the sonic history of the Garden State is a rich (ish) one. Last year's inaugural class included, naturally, Bruce Springsteen, whose lyrical romance singlehandedly made New Jersey a place natives can be proud to call home. Non-natives still avoid New Jersey at all costs, but think that Bruce Springsteen is ok. This year's nominee list includes Jon Bon Jovi, a step behind The Boss, as usual.
ABBA Museum - Thirty years after the blond quartet hung it up and retired to geothermal hot tubs, the Swedes have decided it's time to give ABBA the shrine its chart success deserves. Unfortunately, that dream has been delayed due to difficulties nailing down a location. Organizers had better hurry: they need to get this done ASAP to capitalize on the Mamma Mia film buzz as well as on the fact that ABBA fans are still alive.
For now, there is no way to physically visit either of these joints; the Jersey HOF currently resides only on the web, and, of course, the ABBA place can't seem to find the right building. Until everyone gets their act together, we'll have to satisfy ourselves with lengthy ABBA karaoke sessions. Or, more preferably, not.
Photo credit: Reuters/Arnd Wiegmann
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 Despite having a rock résumé that is so accomplished it’s almost absurd—penning the most famous “Woodstock” review ever (for Billboard), serving as Zeppelin’s publicist, running Atlantic and Mercury and Warner Bros. records, managing Nirvana—much of Danny Goldberg’s writing has been ensconced in liberal politics. However, with his latest, Bumping Into Geniuses (out Sept. 18), the industry legend finally recounts his storied relationships in earnest, among them his work with Kurt Cobain, “the most important of my career.”
According to an excerpt posted on Spinner.com, it was the quiet, moody Cobain—a gentle underdog who’d go on to revile his fame—who truly nudged his band into signing over from Sub Pop to Geffen, in a bid for mass exposure. (The frontman, in fact, would later be instrumental in acquiescing Wal-Mart, which demanded an alternate cover for In Utero after objecting to the fetus depicted in the artwork.) The band’s swelling fame culminated in Nirvana’s 1992 Saturday Night Live performance, a pivotal moment that also also marked a descent into addiction for Cobain, who repeated nodded off during the SNL photo shoot.
Writes Goldberg of Cobain’s then-girlfriend Courtney Love:
“[Her] very presence was a metaphor for the end of one era in the band's life and the beginning of another.… Courtney called me at home the morning the show aired and asked me to get Kurt $5,000 in cash so they could do some ‘shopping.’ I felt pretty uncomfortable as I delivered the package of $100 bills to her at the hotel. Abruptly, the dark cloud of drug excess had entered the band’s life. I was confronted by the baroque facade of lies and the awful glassy-eyed deadness that regular heroin use provides. I resolved to confront them about it after we got through the next few days in New York.” (There’s no comment from Love on her blog. Yet.)
Want another Bumping excerpt? Visit Goldberg’s blog for the story about how Bruce Springsteen shrewdly plotted his ascent into the Top 40. “Hungry Heart,” indeed!
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 Last night, on a steamy street in New York City’s Chinatown, a collection of barely legal girls wearing men’s shirts as dresses – Louis Vuitton status bags dangling off their birdlike arms – pouted and smoked Marlboro Reds outside a nondescript building. After stubbing out their cigarettes with the flat heels of their metallic sandals, they flashed foreign passports and were led inside a smoked-glass door. What is this place? High-end brothel? Harmony Korine film set? Secret late night casting for Gossip Girl? No! It’s the Virgins/Young Lords show at Andrew WK’s new rock club, the tragically named Santos Party House. Inside, the disco ball stayed mercifully still but a smoke machine worked overtime (barfy!) while men in an array of trendy hats (fedoras, porkpies and – barfy! -- cowboy) bought twelve-dollar whiskeys for the assembled young women. By the time the Young Lords took the stage there was a sense of jittery lust in the air, and if you like your men to look like homeless British hipsters from the mid-70s (or Kate Moss’ latest rocker lover) then you would have been pleased by what you saw onstage. They come across as a decent cover band jumping from Springsteen to the Stones, which is really great if you’re looking for ideas for an iPod playlist, but less great to stand around and listen to. The Virgins have more to offer. A New York quintet who borrowed the Strokes’ melodic punk and turned it into party music (hey, it’s more than the Strokes have done with it lately), they landed five songs on Gossip Girl before putting out a fairly fantastic debut album and quickly garnering a reputation for sucking live. Last night, the Virgins proved they’ve been working to correct this imbalance. After playing a lackluster, muddy opener, frontman Donald Cumming removed his black jacket, hitched up his Levis 501’s, took a swig of Budweiser, and demanded more vocals in his monitor. He was still occasionally comically and loudly off-key, but his geeky-cute running-in-place stage moves made it all seem endearing rather than embarrassing. Suddenly songs like “Hey Hey Girl,” “Private Affair” and “One Week of Danger” – which are such sleezy disco-decadent fun on record – were coming across that way live. The privileged teen audience reacted to the collision of youth, sex, booze, and serrated guitar sounds by making out with the nearest pair of available lips. Blair Waldorf would have been proud. |
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